The story of Chocolate in St Lucia

The Tree to Bean tour :
First, let me introduce our guide and mentor. Cuthbert Monroque is head of the Estate's nursery. What he doesn't know about Cocoa trees just isn't worth knowing. He is committed to producing the finest new trees, planting them and enab ling St Lucia's farmers to enjoy a good standard of living.
And here is the HC Superbean, the star of the show.
To get these, you need these. The flowers on a Cocoa tree grow directly from spurs growing out of bark - from the trunk or from more mature branches. They are pollinated by humming birds, bees and mosquitoes. Yep, the mosquito is all part of the team!!

 

The pods produce 2 crops a year and vary in colour depending on type and ripeness. Green to yellow to purple or the coat of many colours.


Evidence of rat invasion

 

The ripened pod is removed either by hand, twisting it gently round and round until it "gives"
or by using this tool which requires greater skill. It is vital not to damage the spur underneath as further flowers will emanate in time from that site. All very labour intensive - hence the high price of very good chocolate.

 

Now we are off to the Nursery - the "business" end.
The beans are put into wooden boxes complete with their sticky food. They are covered with banana leaves and a heavy plank to keep Mr Rat out.! Over a period of a week, fermentation develops ( smells very much like a brewery) and they give off an incredible amount of heat. They are turned often to ensure eveness of ripening and the bean goes from milky white to brown and dries. Every stage of the process from tree to bean has it's own important part to play.

They are then moved to shallow drying racks where they are are turned and inspected daily. Any deformed or weak bean has to be removed as it is likely to create "cocoa must" in the final chocolate making stage and can ruin the whole batch.


And a sack of these precious beans - all ready for roasting,winnowing ( removal of the outer shell) and conching (making a smooth shiny chocolate block) Aaaaah .

 

And so to the Nursery, my favourite place.
These are cuttings taken from the "gene pool" which will be used today

They are completely bound in a tape coated with parafin wax

We were guided by this man, Cuthbert's "Guru" from the St L. Botanical University. He taught Cuthbert everything he knows about grafting cocoa cuttings. It's inserted into a slit on the main stem of the Forastero rootstock plant and thetwo elements are tightly bound.

And here it is ! Gardeners Corner's very own Cocoa tree with our name on it. It will be planted on the Estate and we can get annual updates of its performance. It will remain in the Kindergarten tunnel for 6 months to develop a strong root base. It will be organically fed with a "brew" devised by Cuthbert and sprayed with his organic mix to deter pests at this vital stage.

The kindergarten tunnel with other young recently grafted trees.

 

If you like, the real Chocolate lovers can join me on the Bean to Chocolate bar session. Anyone else interested in making the stuff?
Jenny

 

we have our own baby cocoa tree?

Such an informative read and the pictures are wonderful, Jenny!

 

Glad you liked them Mum,
Jenny

 

Amazing Jenny...just fab

 

I is well impressed

 

Fascinating, thank you Jenny.

 

Brilliant Jenny

Jack McH

 

Thank you everyone,
Jenny

 

Bean to Chocolate bar
Hotel Chocolat's Cocoa beans are grown in both St Lucia and Ghana,West Africa ( under licence) and then dried beans are shipped to Lindt of Switzerland. They have great skill and the finest machinery to make good chocolate. The process begins with roasting the bean and temperature is critical to obtaining the finest aromas. Then comes winnowing when the outer crisp shell is cracked and blown away to leave the dark,shiny bean. These are reduced to small "nibs" and then fed through a series of hot steel rollers to produce a smooth substance which will eventually liquify.The liquid has naturally split into cocoa butter ( which rises to the top) and cocoa mass. The butter is a pale creamey yellow, the nib is a very dark brown. The ratio of each varies depending on many factors. Bean type, growing conditions and the soil. Between 40% and 60% either way. The surplus of cocoa butter is removed and goes to making many different foodstuffs, soaps and cosmetics. The final stage is conching which is a skilfull process perfected by Randolphe Lindt in 1879 when all of Europe went crazy for chocolate. Up until then, it was rather gritty and bitter and needed a lot of sweeteners to make it palatable. The tale goes that, at the end of hard working day Mr Lindt consumed more alcohol than was sensible, walked out of the factory forgetting to turn off the grinding machine - and lock up afterwards. Arriving the next morning, he was greeted by a puzzled employee who said he found the door open and the machine still grinding. To their amazement, the product was smooth, glossy and in a liquid form ! On tasting, it was found to have a superior flavour unlike any tasted before with a velvet like consistency. The secret of prolonged conching only remained with Lindt for a while after that as you can imagine.
So Lindt send the Chocolate "Liquor", in blocks, to England where the chocolates, their flavours and fillings are created for Hotel Chocolat .
These facts were explained to us Trainees as we assembled here, on the veranda of the old Colonial bungalow to make our very own Chocolate.

The roasted bean and shell at the top and a white bean fresh from the pod this morning, covered in it's mucilaginous pulp. We were all invited to suck one. "Do not bite or swallow. Describe taste. fascinating: creamy, sweet and sour together but somehow full of goodness. It feeds that bean growing inside the case and was highly regarded by ancient growers as the food of the gods. It makes a nice addition to a St Lucian cocktail or a unique sorbet!

 

We are ready to start with grinding the cocoa nibs in the hot pestle with a mortar - think grinding coffee beans. It's bloomin hard work and takes 40 minutes to achieve a feel of smoothness without grit in it! Towards the end, you can see it start to look more oily as the cocoa butter tries to separate. The aroma of cocoa is quite overwhelming. The ingredients in the 2 little kilner jars ( cocoa butter and ground cane sugar) were then worked in and followed by more furious grinding until it became a viscotic liquid.

And finally pouring it into your very own mold.